Direct Regulatory Effect of Ketones on Lipolysis and on Glucose Concentrations in Man

IT has been repeatedly shown that the administration of ketones to animals or man produces a decrease in the concentration of glucose and free fatty acids in the blood, and this effect has been generally accepted as compatible with an increased secretion of insulin 1–7 . That ketones stimulate the secretion of insulin seems to have been confirmed in dogs because the concentration of insulin in pancreatic venous blood rose in response to infusions of acetoacetate and β-hydroxybutyrate 4 . In man a rise in the concentration of insulin in the peripheral blood has been observed following the administration of medium chain triglyceride and attributed to the induction of ketonaemia 8 .